Sharon

Sharon, one of 2-1-1’s Specialists, received an early morning call from a young woman who was very distressed. She was crying and said that she just needed someone to talk to. After doing a lethality assessment to ensure her caller wasn’t suicidal, Sharon began to talk her through the situation. She said that she had two children she was raising on her ow, and that, though she was proud to be a mother and only wanted what was best for them, they had started to become unruly. She felt like other adults in her life had started questioning her ability to parent, and even questioned whether they might be right.

While Sharon wanted to connect her caller with counseling and family support resources, she knew that most of the organizations didn’t open until later in the day, and recognized the client needed to be heard in real time. So Sharon offered to listen.

The two of them talked, continuing to discuss different available services. Together, they developed a plan of action for the caller to engage her mom and siblings to help with her children, and to seek general counseling and family support. Before she hung up, the caller told Sharon that she felt as if a weight had been lifted.